Top Tips For Pairing Wine and Chocolate

By MiNDFOOD

Wine and chocolate pairing tips
Indulging in a little chocolate and wine this Easter? Get it right with this guide to pairing wine and chocolate

Love chocolate? Love wine? Enjoy them together for the ultimate taste sensation! To enhance the flavours of your favourite chocolate, Christine Ricketts, Cellar Director and Wine Educator at Cellarmasters, has shared her expert tips on what wines to match. “The secret is to find a wine that is sweeter than the chocolate. If the chocolate is sweeter than the wine, it can actually make the wine taste bitter,” she says.

Dark chocolate

Cabernet Sauvignon has rich black currant and blackberry flavours, which add a lovely sweetness to dark chocolate’s bitterness. If you’re after a more complex taste, try it with Zinfandel, a light-bodied red wine with flavours of berries and black pepper. The fruity, spicy and smoky taste will paired with the chocolate give you a rich, bold taste sensation.

Recommended wine: Black Wattle Mt Benson Cabernet Sauvignon 2014

Tasting notes: Beautiful concentrated spicy fruit with tobacco cedar notes combined with ripe blackberries, the intense fruit from the nose follows through on the palate. Well structured, even tannins are with a fine acidity and rich earthy flavours, producing a very special wine of great complexity and length.

Milk chocolate

Milk chocolate has high levels of cream and sugar, so a crisp Riesling will contrast the sweet and milky taste. If you are a red wine drinker, a plush Merlot will pair nicely as it’s soft, velvety and plum flavours will enhance the cacao of the chocolate.

Milk chocolate has high levels of cream and sugar, so a crisp Riesling will contrast the sweet and milky taste. If you are a red wine drinker, a plush Merlot will pair nicely as it’s soft, velvety and plum flavours will enhance the cacao of the chocolate.

Recommended wine: Black Wattle Mt Benson Merlot 2015

Tasting notes: Showing concentrated mulberry and herbal fruit layered with spices and fine chocolate characters, the intense fruit from the nose follows through on the palate. Solid yet well-balanced tannins with a fine acidity giving roundness and balance.

White chocolate

White chocolate is not actually chocolate, but cocoa fat, so an acidic, sweet wine such as Moscato d’Asti, a sparkling wine from Italy, or a Gewürztraminer, an aromatic white wine, will cut through the fat and bring out the buttery and creamy flavours of the ‘chocolate’.

Recommended wine: Mockingbird Hill Clare Valley Gewurztraminer 2016

Tasting notes: Gewurztraminer is a German word for spicy, which sums up the grape’s taste. Bursting with lychees and turkish delight, these characters carry through onto the palate which is in the drier spectrum of Gewurztraminers. It has a lovely mouthfeel, coupled with refreshing acidity and fantastic length of flavour.

Mint chocolate

The ultimate match for mint chocolate is a Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, as it will really highlight the mint flavour. Cab Savs that are from wine regions that are warm enough to have low pyrazine levels but are still generally cool tend to have a beautiful, mint aroma.

Recommended wine: Gallows Wine Co. The Bommy Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 

Tasting notes: This single vineyard Margaret River Cabernet is made by leading vigneron Charlie Maiolo from his estate in the north of the region.  Rich full bodied, balanced tannins & long elegant finish.

Hazelnut or caramel chocolate

Sweet, red Tawny port has a wide array of subtle flavours, including hazelnut, dried fruits and caramel, which means it will enhance the nutty flavours of the chocolate. Caramel chocolates are the perfect harmony of sweet, salty, fat and bitter. Again, a Tawny port is will enhance the caramel, or pair with an Olorosso sherry which has a dark and nutty flavour that will bring out the chocolate flavour.  

Recommended wine: Dorrien Estate “old Contemptibles” Barossa Valley Tawny 500ml NV

Tasting notes:  This Very Old Tawny from premium small batch winery is luscious and silky. Intense flavours of spicy caramel are lifted by the clean brandy spirit. 

To sample amazing wines and enjoy them with chocolate, visit the Cellarmasters Touring Cellar Door at Smooth Festival of Chocolate in The Rocks, Sydney, on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 of August.

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